Catalysts are chemical substances that can change the rate of a chemical reaction. Such chemicals are used in the manufacture of bulk chemicals, fine chemicals, food processing and biology. In some cases, catalysts need to be isolated from the surrounding environment, particularly the surrounding atmosphere, to avoid exposure of the catalyst to surrounding elements that would potentially lead to the catalyst undergoing a chemical reaction prematurely. For example, if a presulfurized catalyst is exposed to air, it will potentially undergo an exothermic (self-heating) reaction involving the generation of sulfur dioxide. Although such a chemical reaction is not instantaneous, if left unchecked such a reaction can achieve high temperatures that may be undesirable.
It is often desired that catalysts (like many other chemicals) be stored and/or transported from time to time. That said, given the above considerations, it is desirable for containers within which catalysts are stored and/or transported to be robust and to prevent or minimize premature exposure of the catalysts to the outside environment. Nevertheless, developing such containers can be difficult, since such containers to be practical should not only be light and relatively easy to transport, but also be robust to a sufficient extent that it is unlikely that the catalysts inside the containers will be exposed to the outside environment, such as the atmosphere. In at least some cases, it would further be desirable that the container would be robust enough to continue to physically contain the catalysts even when the catalysts were exposed to the outside atmosphere and an exothermic reaction occurred.
Given the above, it would be advantageous if a new or improved container assembly for containing catalyst chemicals and/or other substances, and/or a method of making and/or a method of using such a container assembly, could be developed that addressed one or more of the above-described issues.